There They Awoke
by JaphirTheGreenDragon
Summary: The Fellowship finds themselves in the Blackmarsh! Found by a group of Grey Wardens they have no other choice but to follow. CouslandxBoromir pairing. My first attempt at a crossover. Please leave me a review!
1. Of Marshes and Magi

Their eyes opened. Each had a different reaction to this new place. They were standing in the midst of a burnt village. The old wizard gripped his staff and looked around cautiously while the hobbits gaped at the desiccated buildings. The elf and the dwarf shifted their weapons uneasily and the two men just looked around.

"Where... are we?" a short, curly haired hobbit asked, glancing up at the wizard.

"I do not know, Frodo." he answered shortly.

"What happened here? It looks like this village _burned_." the younger of the men mused.

"Ssh, I think I hear someone coming." the elf hissed, notching an arrow. The group hurriedly scattered to hide behind the broken walls around them and waited.

"-so you're a Howe." a young blond man said, striding into view. Behind him walked a dour looking man with a bow strung across his back.

"Do you have a point, mage?"

"Hey, I'm fond of the Howes! I'm also fond of the whys, the who's and the what's!" the blond joked.

"How clever." the second man deadpanned.

"Ugh, it's shameful how long it took me to come up with that!"

"Would you just shut up for one second?" a crabby sounding woman called to them from out of sight, "You lot force me to come out here and traipse around in this forsaken place and won't give me a moment's peace!"

"Hey, Velanna, maybe you could complain with your internal voice next time." another woman said. The two women came into view, one was a tiny elf with pale blond hair tied up in a bun, while the other was a confident young woman who wore embellished silver armor and had an incredibly large sword slung across her back.

"Just trying to keep morale up, Velanna dear." the blond man laughed. The elven woman was almost visibly shaking in anger.

"Uh, Anders, I would quit while you're ahead." the other woman smirked.

"As you say, Commander."

"Say, Commander... Why are we here anyway?" a deep voice burped.

"We're here to find 'Kristoff', Oghren. You didn't have to come with us you know, it would've been fine if you stayed at the Keep." the 'Commander' said.

"Oh don't mind him, Commander, He's just hung over from last night." a younger sounding voice said. The next two speakers walked into view. They were two dwarves, a redheaded man with a large braided beard and a woman who wore a strange helmet.

"Commander," the dour man spoke suddenly, scanning the area, "We're not alone..." The company drew their weapons, the blond man and the elf gripping staves, identifying them as magic users.

"Who's there?" the woman asked, drawing her sword. The older man stepped into their view, holding his hands up to show he meant no harm.

"Please, lay down your arms. We mean no harm." he said, "My name is Strider, and these are my companions." He gestured at the others to show themselves. The woman glanced over them in confusion.

"Stand down." she ordered, "What are you doing here?"

"That, we do not know ourselves, my dear lady. Nor do I know where here is." the old wizard stated. She narrowed her eyes.

"This is the Blackmarsh." she said, sheathing her sword, "As you have so kindly given me your name, I shall give you mine. I am Demielle Theirin, Commander of the Grey, here in Ferelden."

"Ferelden?" one of the hobbits piped up. Demielle looked at the four tiny men in mild surprise.

"You have children with you? I suggest you get out of here, and fast. This area is very dangerous."

"Children? I'll have you know I am thirty-one years old!" he protested. Demielle's look only grew more confused.

"You are... a dwarf, then? You do not look like any other dwarf I've seen..." she continued, perplexed.

"We're hobbits!" a second one said, "Shirefolk, halflings?"

The warrior just shook her head, "Well, I have never heard of a hobbit but then again, before I became a Grey Warden I had never heard of a broodmother either. Not that I'm comparing you to that. Anyway, you still should get out of here. I can see you are armed but more dangers lurk here than can be killed by cold steel."

"Why are you here then?" the younger man asked.

"We are Grey Wardens." she said, as if that was all the explanation they needed.

"Ugh, can we not move on? If they do not wish to leave then let them stay. The sooner we finish our business here, the better." the sour elven woman, Velanna, complained.

"I thought you liked nature?"

"I like trees and greenery not burnt little shemlen towns, overcome with blighted creatures." she snapped. She glanced at the group in front of them and noticed the incredibly tall elf, "You there! You do not look like one of those trained monkey, dirt elves. From what clan do you hail?"

"I do not know what you mean by clan but I am Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thranduil. Prince of Mirkwood." the lithe blond elf answered.

"Mirkwood?"

"It seems we are from different realms. We know nothing of this land while you appear to know nothing of ours." the wizard said.

"Isn't that something." the blond man, Anders, commented, "And here I thought we were the only _realm_ out there. Ah well, there goes my hopes and dreams." Demielle began to feel a slight buzz at the back of her mind and immediately knew what it was. She glanced around at her companions, wondering if they had felt it too. She saw Nathaniel and Anders twitch and Oghren began to grumble again. She smirked slightly; those three would make fine Grey Wardens yet.

"There is no time for you to make it back to the Keep. Be on your guard, there are darkspawn nearby." she informed the group.

"Are darkspawn anything like orcs?" another of the hobbits asked.

"I could not say what an orc is but it sounds pretty hideous. And if darkspawn are anything, it's hideous." Demi debated silently for a moment on what to do with these people, "You seem to be able warriors. You could come with us now, if you wished to and we can escort you out of the Marsh when our business is finished here."

"Our only alternative is wandering aimlessly in this strange place, right?" the younger man asked.

"I say we let the ring bearer decide. What say you, Frodo?" the wizard addressed the hobbit who hadn't spoken yet.

"I say... we go with them."

"Good." Demi nodded curtly, "Then let's get the rest of the introductions over with and we can get moving."

"I am Anders."

"My name is Nathaniel Howe."

"Velanna."

"Sigrun, at your service."

"Th' name's Oghren."

"Strider."

"Boromir of Gondor."

"Legolas."

"It's Gimli."

"My name's Pippin."

"I'm Merry."

"Frodo"

"Sam."

"I am Gandalf."

"Great, now let's move." Demielle grinned and led the now doubled in size group out of the burnt village. As they explored the outskirts of the village, they began to see the same gross flesh sacs that they had found in Kal'Hirol. The darkspawn buzz grew louder and more persistent. They reached a clearing where, in the center lay the body of a man. Demi rolled him over slightly and saw the unmistakable Orlesian style moustache and the worn griffon crest on the man's chest plate. She stood quickly, not wanting to linger a moment more than necessary but was stopped by the gravelly voice of a darkspawn.

"The Mother, she was right. Slay the Warden and you would come. The Mother is always right." The creature went to continue but found that he could not form words around the arrow shaft that was now protruding from his mouth. He let out a strangled cry as three more embedded themselves in his chest. Demi turned to see the elf, Legolas, sighting another down the shaft.

"This is a darkspawn creature, yes? They are hideous indeed." he said, loosing the final arrow. It hit home and the Disciple fell to the ground, dead.

"You... remind me of Zevran." Demi said simply. Oghren burst into laughter, remembering the Antivan assassin, "Well, now that we know that Kristoff is dead we can head back to the Vigil and inform Varel."

"And what happens to us?" Boromir asked.

"I don't know. You can decide when we get there."

"Fair enough." Strider said.

It took them a day and a half to get back to the Keep. The other-worlders asking question after question about Thedas. Once they were back, Varel greeted them at the gates.

"Your majesty." He bowed slightly.

"Good to see you, Varel. We found Kristoff. He was killed by the darkspawn."

"Y-your majesty?" Pippin spluttered.

"Yes, oh, did I forget to mention? Along with being Commander of the Grey, I am also the Hero-Queen of Ferelden."


	2. The Fell Beast

In the few days that followed, Demielle set to work governing her small slice of Ferelden. The other-worlders remained at Vigil's Keep, not knowing where else to go. Eventually Demi found out that Strider was more than he seemed but the more she pressed, the more she was shut out. The others, however, were quite freely spoken. As much as she and her companions answered their questions, they answered every one of hers.

One night, Oghren, as was his wont, began a drinking contest. Two of the hobbits, Boromir, Anders and the dwarf, Gimli, immediately joined in. Legolas was dragged over by Gimli, secretly glad to get a reprieve from Velanna's endless stream of questioning. Nathaniel was off glowering in a corner somewhere and Sigrun was poking fun at the now besotted dwarves. The wizard was sitting at one of the tables ringing the edge of the throne room with the two calmer hobbits. Strider was positioned not far from Demielle, who was sitting on her throne, smiling down at her friends enjoying themselves. Everything was peaceful. But it wasn't to last.

A terrible screech tore through the air. Demielle stood immediately and glanced around. Everyone was instantly sober and alert as they could be. A look of horror crossed Boromir's face.

"Nazgul..." he whispered.

"What?" Demi demanded, and reached for her sword.

"DOWN!" Strider shouted, tackling her out of the way just as a terrifying clawed foot raked through the roof to where she had been standing. The creature let out another cry and extracted itself from the building, "Run!" Strider helped Demielle stand and ran to the others, "Get out!"

Demi glanced up at the creature, "Wardens! On me!" she cried, and dashed out. Her companions followed leaving the other-worlders unsure of what to do. Boromir, Legolas, Gimli and Strider drew their weapons and herded the hobbits out. Gandalf followed close behind.

Once outside of the Keep, they saw the Wardens were already organized. Demielle was flanked by Oghren and Sigrun, while Nathaniel, Anders and Velanna were positioned on a section of the immense stone walls. The leather-winged creature had leapt up and was hovering just above the demolished roof of the Keep.

"Come and face me you blighted, son of a nug!" Demi shouted. The creature screeched again and swooped down, landing in a whirlwind of dust just before the woman and two dwarves. But it didn't attack. It was then that Demielle noticed its rider. It looked like a man, wearing a rather horrifying spiked helm.

_*GIVE USSS THE RING* _The hiss was more like a heavy pressure on their minds, forcing them to listen. Demi vaguely heard Strider shout, "Never!" She didn't have time to wonder what that was about before the creature shrieked again. An arrow was protruding from its left eye socket. The queen smirked as she noticed the black fletching that marked it as one of Nathaniel's. It shook its head violently and wind milled its wings. Dust flew everywhere, making it ten times harder to see. Demielle surged forward, ducking past the flailing head. She raised her sword and carved a deep slice as she ran down its side. Its next screech was more of a choked gurgle. Sigrun nimbly leapt onto its head and left her blades marks in the back of its neck. It gurgled again and slumped onto its side, throwing off the rider. The dust settled as Oghren let out a fierce battle cry and brought his axe down, severing the beasts neck completely. Demielle glanced over the carcass and saw the rider stand out of a cloud of black smoke. She couldn't see his eyes due to the helm but she felt him look straight at her. Straight _through_ her. She blinked, and he was gone.

She swiped her sword violently through the air, to fling most of the blood off, and turned to face the approaching other-worlders, "Explain. Now."

* * *

A few hours later, Demi was seated back on her throne, her face grim, "So these creatures, the Nazgul, are after you for a ring?" The group below her averted their eyes, having not wanted her to know, "Damn it, tell me! What is so important about this ring?"

"The ring is the One Ring." Strider said.

"_'One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.'_" Gandalf intoned. Demi looked at them in confusion, "This ring hold dominance over the other Rings of Power."

"And someone wants it." It wasn't a question, "Who? And why?"

"Sauron. It was he who made the ring. To control the others. He wants back what is his." Strider continued.

"So what are you trying to do with it? You're obviously not trying to give it back."

"We're trying to destroy it." Sam said.

Boromir scoffed, "Which I still think is foolish. We could turn it into our greatest asset to defeat the Dark Lord."

"Enough, Boromir, the ring is too great a power for us to control. It would only destroy us." Strider chided.

"It might be for a _ranger_. Not for a son of Gondor, I assure you."

Legolas stood angrily, "Need I remind you of to whom you speak?"

"Stop, Legolas, now is not the time." the man cut him off.

"Oh, please continue. I love getting to know more about the people whose asses I just saved." Demi snarked.

"Need I remind _you_, elf? Gondor has no king." Boromir spat, ending the dispute. Demielle sighed and massaged her temples.

_Why do grown men always fight like children? Ah well, time to get back to work._


	3. Stories

Demielle left Varel in charge of the Keep and the group went to search for the 'Witch King'. As far as she was concerned, there was a very dangerous ...thing, out in Ferelden's wilderness. And she was going to get rid of it.

"This is suicide! Good lady, the Witch King is no simple foe." Gandalf pleaded for the third time.

"Yeah, neither was the archdemon and look who's standing here now? I have fought my share of weird shit so I think I can handle it." the queen scoffed.

"Your Majesty, you would needlessly put yourself into danger? Think about your people, you cannot-" Strider started.

"SILENCE!" she shouted, "This is _my_ kingdom and _I_ will defend it!" With that she stormed away from the camp, violently swatting branches out of her path. The other Wardens silently watched her go and set about putting the camp together.

"Why did she get so angry?" Frodo asked, wandering over to Anders and Nathaniel. The two men shared a look and Anders smiled apologetically.

"I don't think we're the right ones to ask that."

"Talk to Oghren. Something happened to her during the Blight and he was the only one of us that was with her then." Nathaniel said. The camp was not that big, so everyone could hear everyone else's conversations. They were all waiting quietly for the dwarf to respond. Oghren burped and set down his mug of ale, a strange expression on his face.

"What happened is in the past. Leave it be, it does no one any good anymore." he grunted.

"But you all trust her with your lives?" Boromir asked.

"I know the others have their own reasons, but the Commander saved my life." Sigrun smiled, "Well, sort of. More like, she rescued me from my life."

Seeing the hobbits share a confused look, Nathaniel continued, "Sigrun is part of the Legion of the Dead. They're sworn to seal themselves in the Deep Roads to fight darkspawn until they die. So, they hold a funeral before they leave for their families. We found Sigrun being taken by the darkspawn and the Commander offered to make her a Grey Warden."

"'Offered' is a bit of a strong word... More like 'demanded', the Commander is like that." Anders chuckled, "Sort of like my own reason. The Commander went head to head with a Knight-Templar to recruit me and save me from likely being executed."

"You were going to be executed? Why? If you don't mind me asking..." Sam wondered.

"I am an apostate. A mage outside of the Circle. This was my seventh escape attempt from the tower and I think they were getting fed up with tracking me down. As a Grey Warden, I don't have to be in the Circle. It's like a nice walk in the park, with darkspawn!"

"Well, if we're all going to share stories, the Commander helped me find my old wife, Branka, in the Deep Roads. And when we returned to Orzammar, I had no place there so I followed her." Oghren put in.

"I wonder if she's okay..." Pippin said. Boromir stood.

"I'll go find her; none of us should wander alone." The others nodded and went about business in the camp. Boromir followed Demi's path, chuckling slightly to himself as he passed broken branches and obvious footprints. As he neared, he could hear cursing and rustling leaves. When she came into sight, she was whipping her greatsword around, moving through various fighting stances. She moved roughly at first, angrily, but then she began to flow through the stances with ethereal grace. She finally drove her sword into the ground with a fierce war cry and sat down, satisfied.

"You can come out now."

"You are very formidable with that blade." the man said, stepping into view.

"I should be, having spent the last year using it to save my ass. Are you here to persuade me not to go after the 'Witch King' too?" she asked, patting the ground next to her.

"Though I do agree with them that he is a... dangerous enemy, there seem to be a great many things we do not agree on. That is not the reason I came, however. Your friends seem to think something happened to you during the 'Blight'." There was a slight pause before she sighed and shook her head slightly.

"Ah, and you didn't get Oghren to tell you what it was? See, the trick with that dwarf is to challenge him to a drinking contest and pretend to drink, you get him besotted and he'll tell you anything."

"So something did happen?" Boromir continued.

"Is this about me tracking the Witch King? Then yes, something happened. Someone took a hit for me, and I won't let them do it again." Demielle stared up through the branches overhead, "I owe them that much, at least."

"One of your companions?"

"My husband."


	4. A New Moon

The next morning Demielle awoke to find most of the party already up and striking camp. "Good morning, Commander!" Anders called, cheerfully, "Sam's made us breakfast if you'd like some?"

"Twenty times better than Anders' cooking, let me tell you." Nathaniel smirked.

"Ooh, he tells a joke! What's got you in such a fine mood?" chuckled Gimli.

"Breakfast would be great, then we should get a move on. I want to kill this thing and get back to my job." Demi said quickly, casting a firm glance at Strider and Gandalf when she heard their stifled sighs.

"We've still got the Mother and the Architect to deal with." Sigrun said.

Demielle strode over to Sam's small cooking fire and had breakfast. By the time she was done, the group had finished packing up and they were on their way. At this point they were just roaming the woods, trying to find any clue of the Witch King, as they had no idea where he went. As they walked, they shared stories, Demielle told them most of her tale concerning the Blight, though they didn't know it was only most of it. They talked all day long, finding no sign of their prey, and soon the light began to fade. Boromir happily chatted about his homeland, a place called Gondor, when the others of his group remained silent.

"The stone is pure white and shines gloriously in the sun. Ever since I was a child, I always loved to stand at the very edge of the King's Courtyard and gaze over the city, oh it was beautiful. I wish you could see it, my lady, Minas Tirith has the noblest air about it." he said, grinning at Demi.

"I swear to the Maker, if you say 'It is a glittering gem!' I'm going to throw something at you." Demi laughed.

Boromir smirked in confusion, "What? Why?"

"You would be literally quoting a friend of mine." she continued to laugh loudly.

"That… would be me, I think."

Everyone jumped at the heavily accented voice. On the path ahead of them, a small blond elf strode out to stand grinning at them, "Zevran!" Demielle gestured to the others to lower their weapons, grinning, "What are you…?"

"Doing here? Ah, my dear Warden, _we_ were looking for you!" the assassin said. Out of the woods behind him came another, less stealthy someone crashing through the underbrush.

"Zevran! Dear Maker, slow down, will you? I swear, if Demi had led us through the woods like you do, the Blight would still be going on for all the time we'd have spent getting lost!" Demi's eyes widened and the smile disappeared from her face as the newcomer nearly fell onto the path.

Oghren burst out laughing, "This is the guy they made King! HA! The little pike-twirler!"

Most of the company was rather confused by this, some bent to their knees in surprise while others glanced to Demi.

"Alistair…" she whispered, stiffening.

"Demi!" Alistair ran forward and hugged her in relief, "Oh, Maker, I'm so glad you're all right! I heard a dragon attacked the Keep, you are all right, aren't you?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, Alistair." the queen laughed, rather nervously, "And it wasn't a dragon. It was a… er, what did you call them?"

"Nazgul, a Fell Beast." Boromir answered, "You are the King? Lady Demielle's husband?"

"Ah, yes, that's me."

"You are… shorter than I expected."

"Alistair," Demi cut him off, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Denerim? And why are you here with Zevran alone?"

"I was looking for you! Aren't I allowed to be worried for my wife?" he said, kissing her on the forehead.

"And so you should be! Maybe you can talk some sense into her, she insists on following a foe she cannot hope to defeat." Gandalf chimed in.

"What? Dear, what's he talking about?"

The woman shot a glare a Gandalf, "It's nothing! Alistair, these are… new… friends of mine, um, let's set camp, and we can talk privately."

The party obliged and Demielle led Alistair away from the camp.

"I don't mean to be rude or nothing," Sam started in hushed tones to Frodo, "But why are we still following her? We ought to be trying to find a way back home."

"A wise question, Samwise Gamgee, why indeed? Following a fool of a queen, so set on her own destruction." Gandalf muttered.

"I don't know." Frodo answered, "But… I have this… feeling. That our way back is tied to the Witch King. Though it sounds quite absurd, even to me, I can't shake it."

"I feel the same. A shadow lies upon my thoughts, it lifted but for a moment, when the good lady felled the Nazgul. I do not like this place. There is an… emptiness, do you not feel it, Aragorn?" Legolas asked. Strider nodded, much to the interest of the eavesdropping Nathaniel.

"What are we all muttering about?" Anders interrupted them, wanting to be a part of the conversation.

"Nothing you need concern yourself with, Master Mage, just idle talk." the old wizard said, smiling slightly.

"Say, does the Queen always act like that when the King's around?" Pippin asked.

"Pippin!" Merry scolded quickly.

"What? It's just a simple question!"

"One that doesn't have a particularly easy answer, I'm afraid. I, myself, have only ever seen her around the King once before, so my answer would be yes. But, that's only going off of two instances so it may not be very accurate." Anders replied.

Frodo, who had busied himself with helping Sam get a fire going, glanced around quickly, "Where is Boromir?"

* * *

"I have a lot to do, Alistair. The darkspawn are still not quelled, and now there's this other thing out there that I have to find before it wreaks too much havoc. And you should be in Denerim, I'm sure Arl Eamon is tearing out his beard by now." Demi chided.

"I know, I just… I wanted to make sure you were all right. And I wanted to see you." Alistair moved to take her hands, but she shifted uncomfortably away from him, "What's wrong, Dem?" He shook his head slightly and sighed, "Ever since that night, you've changed, you know?" he said slowly, "Please don't tell me you regret it? Please, Demi, I did it for you! If I hadn't, we'd have gone to fight the archdemon and do you know what? You would have taken the final blow. I would have protested and tried to do it myself, but you would have overpowered me. And that would have killed me as sure as any blade. I couldn't let you do that, Dem, I love you."

"That's not it! Alistair… Maker knows, I understand. I would've done the same thing, and still would, if for different reasons. But things change. I've changed. No, it's not about that night. It's about the future." Here she stood, "Though I am of noble birth, and any other woman of my family would have made a worthy Queen, if there were others, I am a Grey Warden. And you are the last of your line, the last of a line of great Kings. You said it yourself, the people will expect an heir, and that is something I cannot give you. However much I may have wanted to."

Alistair was silent for a long moment, "'May have'?" he closed his eyes, "I knew this was going to happen. You don't love me anymore, do you?"

"No."

"Did you ever?" Demielle inhaled sharply.

"If you think I lied to you that whole time when I told you I loved you, you know nothing about me." she spat, "Yes. I loved you. And I was happy beyond imagining when I married you, but then we both changed. We argue about the stupidest things, we never agree on anything anymore. I know Arl Eamon has been counseling you against me, and I thank you for staying true to me, but he's right. I'm not a good Queen for you. I serve you and Ferelden better as Commander of the Grey. I'm sorry, Alistair."

A few tears dripped down the Kings face, "I… understand." he said haltingly, "I will make the arrangements. I'm sorry it… turned out like this. I had hoped I would be the one to make you happy for the rest of your life, but things don't always turn out the way we want, do they? I wish you luck, and all the joy in the world. Goodbye, Demi."

With that, he stood and walked back to the camp. He called to Zevran and told the elf to pack up their own things, they would be heading back to Denerim tonight. Demielle stood alone, staring off into the woods, she did not cry. She had no tears for this, for it had been on her mind for a long time. As much as it hurt, it was something she needed to do. She took a deep breath and exhaled as she looked up to the sky. A new moon.

A night for new beginnings.


End file.
